Closing Cornell 'unnecessary' for Obama Center: report

Cornell Drive doesn't need to close in order to build the Obama Presidential Center, according to an independent report commissioned by Jackson Park Watch.

Jackson Park Watch, a park advocacy group formed in 2016, paid for the study, conducted by RaSmith, a Brookfield, Wis.-based civil engineering firm. The study concludes that the Chicago Department of Transportation's (CDOT's) plan for the streets surrounding the planned center underestimates the volume of traffic the center will generate, and that the plan provides inadequate information about new routes for traffic diverted by the closing of Cornell. RaSmith's study also indicates that CDOT's plan would eliminate many parking spots, necessary for people visiting the beach and other non-center locations, and that changes proposed to Stony Island Avenue don't address vehicular and pedestrian safety issues.

The engineering firm's alternative plan calls for keeping six-lane Cornell Drive open and narrowing it to four lanes throughout Jackson Park; keeping the presidential center between 60th and 63rd streets, Stony Island Avenue and Cornell; keeping eastbound Midway Plaisance between Stony Island and Cornell Drive; and keeping Marquette Drive and Hayes Drive as they are and allowing parking.

The organization delivered copies of the report and alternative plan on May 10 to Chicago Plan Commission members as well as to Obama Foundation CEO David Simas, foundation vice president Michael Strautmanis and the foundation's director of planning and construction Roark Frankel, says Margaret Schmid, co-founder of Jackson Park Watch. Schmid says Jackson Park Watch has not received a response. "We would be delighted if the Plan Commission were to say, 'Some of these issues need to be investigated further and we need to delay action,'" she says. "We are hopeful, or else we wouldn't be doing this."

A spokeswoman for the foundation referred a reporter to President Barack Obama's 2017 comments about Cornell Drive, which read in part: "We are recommending that we close Cornell that runs through (the proposed site). (It's) a six?lane road in the middle of the park. You can't have kids playing next to a road, you can't have sledding into the road. You can't walk to the lagoon because there's no place to cross the street. What we have said is, let's restore Jackson Park to the original vision. Let's make sure traffic is accommodating down Lakeshore Drive and 59th street." Obama went on to mention similar traffic disruptions when Millennium Park and the Museum Campus were created. "We have to be bold in terms of how we envision the product, all right?" he said.

Last week, the Obama Foundation released minor changes to the presidential center plan, including eliminating a planned 10-foot curb extension in front of the plaza on Stony Island in response to concerns about traffic; removing a sunken courtyard from the design of the center's plaza; moving a children's play area closer to the Jackson Park lagoon and Lake Michigan; and simplifying the shape and roof of the planned athletic center to make it more "organic."

The Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to meet May 17 to evaluate the Obama Presidential Center. Other matters raised recently include how much parkland the Obama Foundation owes the city due to space it will consume in Jackson Park. The foundation's buildings are expected to consume 2.6 acres. Because Jackson Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation must review and approve plans for the center before construction begins.